Snowed In!
by JeminyGirls
Summary: When the Ham-Hams get stuck in the Clubhouse, tensions run high and new love connections form...Read on to find out more!
1. The Start of it All

It was the coldest day of the year and the sky was an icy gray. A chilling wind swept through the woods as Hamtaro wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. 

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Wow, it's cold! he thought. _I'd better get to the Clubhouse before I freeze my tail off!_ So he ran, faster and faster, until finally, when his paws could take him no further, he collapsed at the door of the Clubhouse.

_"Ouchichi_!" he moaned, and slowly got up. He opened the door and sighed; someone had lit a fire. The warmth flooded over him, soothing his frozen body.

"Hamtaro!" He looked around. All of his Ham-Ham friends were already there! Bijou, Sandy, Maxwell, Howdy, Stan, and Boss were playing cards, Dexter was helping Pashmina put Penelope down for a nap, Oxnard, Panda, and Cappy were making hot chocolate, and Snoozer was sleeping, as usual. Jingle sat alone by the fire, strumming his guitar. 

"Hey there Ham-taco! Nothin' like being fashionably late for a party! You make me proud, little dude!"

"Oh, hi Jingle! Sorry for being late, guys. The wind's really picking up!" Hamtaro replied.

"Heh! You're telling me! If I hadn't come earlier, I'd've been blown halfway to Texas by now!" Howdy chuckled.

"Excuuuuuuse me," sneered Dexter, nose in the air, "Penelope dear is having a hard enough time getting to sleep without some failed comic keeping her awake. Isn't that right, Pashmina?" Pashmina, not wanting to disappoint either of her beaus, simply sighed. "In case you couldn't tell, _Howdy-doody_, that means YES!"

"HOWDY-DOODY?! Whyyyy you little-"

"Would you two cut it out?!" shouted Boss "You've both been so busy bickering that no one has noticed it's snowing!"

And he was right. A few delicate white flakes were cascading gently toward the ground. "Ooooh! How beautiful!" Bijou sighed. "They look like lace!"

"Yes…" muttered Maxwell, "how beautiful…"

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*Well, there's Chapter One! Hope you like it! I know it's short, but it's just really an introduction chapter. Please review!*

3 Jenny


	2. Alone in the Crowd

So rare were snowstorms for the Ham-Hams that this one was the cause of great celebration. By mid-day, when the snow had accumulated a few inches on the ground and was showing no signs of stopping, spirits were high and it seemed like a full-blown party was underway. Boss had dug out an old radio and found some cool tunes, Oxnard whipped up a few batches of his trademark Sunflower Bars, and Howdy invented a Snow Dance that left everyone who'd seen it wishing they hadn't. All the Ham-Hams were having a blast. Or, so it seemed.

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I wish someone would ask me to dance, Bijou thought, eyes wandering to the makeshift dance floor. She wrapped her blanket tighter around her shoulders and stared into the fire. All those happy hamsters, partying without her, probably not even missing her…She sniffled. _It sure is getting cold in here_, she said to herself, trying to pretend it was the chill making her nose run. _Ah, who am I kidding?_ Bijou knew her sniffle had nothing to do with the snow now rapidly falling outside. She was lonely. Although she had always known Hamtaro would never return her feelings, she was okay with that, because she figured Boss would love her forever. But, there he was, chatting excitedly with Pashmina…perhaps a little too excitedly for Bijou's liking. It left her wondering if he had ever liked her in the first place…

"Ookwee?" Bijou felt a tug on her paw. Looking down, she saw Penelope, with a grin on her face and a book in her arms. "Ookwee?" she said again, pointing to the book.

"Oh, alright Penelope, I'll read to you" Bijou replied, taking the book and helping Penelope up into her seat. She saw that the book was one of her favorites, a story about a girl named Cinder-Ham, who began as a servant and, with a little magic, was transformed into a beautiful princess. "You ready, Penelope?" The younger hamster nodded. "Okay then," Bijou began. "Once upon a time…"

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*The plot thickens…muahaha. Now the story will start to get interesting! If you like it so far, let me know! Ah, what the heck! Even if you don't like it, let me know!*

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3 Jenny


	3. CinderHam and the Prince

"OW!" Maxwell flinched. He was dancing with Sandy who, being a much better dancer than he was, insisted they keep going faster and faster, so fast that she kept stepping on his paws. 

"Maxwell! That's the fourth time!" Sandy shook her head in embarrassment. "Okay, lets try again, shall we?…" She glanced at him hopping around in pain. "Naw, forget it. I'm going to go find someone who I can actually dance with!"

"Sandy, wait!-" he called after her, but it was too late. Maxwell sighed. Sandy had been acting all weird lately. He didn't know why, but it made him wonder if she still liked him like she did before. His eyes scanned the Clubhouse, hoping no one would notice he'd just been shut down by his supposed girlfriend. As an excuse to retreat from the dance floor, he clutched his paw and hobbled over to a small stool in the corner.

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Oh, man, that Sandy can hurtwhen she wants to! he thought, massaging his swollen toe. _I wonder if I should try to improve my dancing a bit. I mean, Sandy's like a professional and here I am, Mr. Bookworm, unable to perform a few simple steps! Howdy, on the other hand…_ With disgust, he watched Howdy perform his Snow Dance to an applauding Sandy, who then asked if he would teach her. _Oh great. _he muttered, rolling his eyes. _I I'm losing my girlfriend to Howdy!_ He stood up and wandered around the room, trying not to look like a wallflower. But, wait! He wasn't the _only _one not dancing! His eyes rested on Bijou, over by the fire, reading a book to Penelope. He looked closer. The Story of Cinder-Ham! He had practically memorized that book! His grandmother used to read it to him every day when he was just a little baby! Maybe he would go talk to Bijou, then…

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"'I am your Fairy God-Ham and I am here to take you to the ball!'" Bijou said in a high, squeaky voice. Penelope giggled. She loved it when Bijou read to her, because she always used goofy voices and silly expressions. "'Stand still! We don't have much time left before it begins!' And with that, the kindly Fairy God-Ham cast a spell on young Cinder-Ham. Suddenly, she was transformed!" Bijou paused. She had felt someone come up behind her and she didn't know who it was. Not wanting to disappoint Penelope, she kept reading. "She looked-"

"-like a princess, with beautiful bright eyes." Bijou turned around and, to her surprise, saw Maxwell there, staring at her. She dropped the book. Maxwell continued speaking. "Eyes of the deepest blue, like the ocean at night. Her hair was elegantly done up with ribbons and her lips shone like rubies …" He stopped. For a few seconds, which seemed like forever, they gazed into eachother's eyes, neither knowing what was going on. "Any prince who set his eyes upon her would've fallen…in love…at once…" As if by some mystical force, his hand went up to stroke Bijou's hair.

"OOKWEE!" Penelope didn't know what was happening, but she didn't care. Maxwell had interrupted her story! She chucked the book at the side of Bijou's head to get her attention. Bijou fell out of her chair and the world went dark…

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*Now see what I was getting at? I'm all for new couples, so wait and see what else happens! Muahahaha…I've been getting some gooooood ideas for this story! Please review for me!*

3 Jenny

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	4. Confusion

"Biiiiijjjoouuu…Biiiijjjooou" As the room slowly came into view, Bijou found herself staring into the concerned face of Pashmina. She smiled. "Oh good, Bijou, you're awake! We thought you'd never get up!"

"Ookwee?" A timid voice came from behind Pashmina. Bijou sat up. 

"She's been worried sick about you," Pashmina explained, as Penelope hopped up onto Boss's bed, where they had been tending Bijou. Her eyes were red and it was obvious she had been crying. 

"Ookwee?" she said again.

"It's okay Penelope, I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to really hurt me…" Bijou sighed, rubbing her head. She knew Penelope was sorry, but that didn't stop the book from leaving a nasty bruise!

"Which leads me to the next thing." Pashmina said abruptly. "Why exactly did Penelope throw that book at your head in the first place?"

"Oh!" Bijou exclaimed, her voice a half octave higher than normal. Pashmina looked at her suspiciously. She blushed and tried to keep her cool. "Oh, it was nothing…nothing at all…we just had a little…disagreement…yeah that's it…right Penelope?" Penelope rolled her eyes.

"Ookwee!! Ookwee!! Ookwee, ook-" Bijou clapped her hand over the younger ham's mouth.

"Oh those kids say the darndest things, don't they?!" she said, trying to keep a firm hold on the the struggling Penelope. Pashmina raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Come on Penelope, tell me what _really_ happened." she coaxed. But Penelope had been stunned into silence by Bijou's actions. Pashmina knew there would be no getting information out of her for a while…"Ah forget it. C'mon Penny, let's let Bijou rest a while." And with that, they left.

Bijou sighed. She hated lying to her friends, but how could she possibly explain what had happened between her and Maxwell? Even she didn't understand it! One minute they were just good friends and the next, she was drowning in his soft brown eyes. _Beautiful_ soft brown eyes…

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What am I doing?! She shook her head, erasing her mind of the thought. What would Sandy think? How could she tell one of her best friends that she was possibly in love with her boyfriend? Bijou wanted to scream. _THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!!_ She lay back down on the pillow, half hoping Penelope would come and throw another book at her, just to clear her mind of all this confusion…

There was a soft knock on the door. "Bijou?" It opened halfway and she could see Maxwell's face peering in at her. "Can I come in?" Bijou nodded weakly. He closed the door behind him, walked over, sat on the edge of her bed, and smiled. _Oh he is SO cute when he smiles! _she thought.

"I brought you some soup" he said, handing her the steaming bowl of chicken noodle. "Feeling better?"

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I am now, she thought, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and said "Yes, thanks"

He smiled again. "Good. Listen, I want to talk about what happened yesterday…"

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*hehehehehhe I'm really starting to get into this!!! Please R+R for me, emphasis on the REVIEW part!*

3 Jenny

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	5. Author Note

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*AUTHOR NOTE:

Hello! It's me (duhhhh)! I just wanted to say a few things about the comments people have been giving me on my story…First of all, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH!! It means a lot to me that you comment, whether in a good or bad way. Now for the individual responses:

Kanurijan~Wow, thanks! Glad you like my story! No, they're not snowed in yet…keyword: yet! And for the HTML (like italics and such), I use Microsoft Word, so I just use the little buttons on the top and save my document as HTML. Dunno if that helps!

S.S.T.A.G~eeeehhhh violence!!! XD lol. What you have to understand about this story is that I absolutely LOVE the Sandy/Maxwell couple, don't get me wrong. This story kinda has a history behind it, which involves 2 very bored friends in Spanish, a bunch of Hamtaro codenames, supposed love connections, and other strange stuff that I don't have the time to get in to right now. To make a long story short, what you read is not exactly what I'm trying to say…wow, did that make _ANY_ sense?!

Haley-Comet~hehehehe thankies! Happy to know there are other people out there who believe in my madness!! Also, are you a psychic? Don't want to give anything away, but those couples you suggested…muahaha

Kera-The-Kero-Lover~Thanks! I'll continue as soon as I can! ^_^

Yami Uyt~Ditto!

witchyblackkat~Don't itch, it ruins your skin! :b hehehe

Obsidian Dancer~thanks!! I continued, read on!

hamtaro+bijou4eva~Ditto again!

Okay, now that that's all over and done with, I just want to say that from now on, things like this will be at the beginning of each chapter and I will only respond to your comment if you a.) ask a question b.) make your comment stand out somehow or c.) comment on something specific I should fix or you like. Okay? ^_^

Thanks again!!! And please, KEEP THOSE COMMENTS COMING!!!!!*

3 Jenny


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